Mrs. Pebmarsh, the blind owner of No.

19, denies all knowledge of ringing Sheila's secretarial agency and asking for her by name -- yet someone did. Nor does she own that many clocks.

And neither woman seems to know the victim. Colin Lamb, a young intelligence specialist working a case of his own at the nearby naval yard, happens to be on the scene at the time of Sheila Webb's ghastly discovery.

Lamb knows of only one man who can properly investigate a crime as bizarre and baffling as what happened inside No. 19 -- his friend and mentor, Hercule Poirot.

About The Author Agatha Christie is the bestselling author of all time. She has sold over two billion books worldwide and has been translated into over 45 languages.

In a writing career that spanned more than half a century, Agatha Christie wrote eighty novels and short story collections. She also wrote over a dozen plays, including The Mousetrap, which is now the longest running play in theatrical history.

Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was the first to feature her eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. One of the most famous fictional creations of all time, Poirot's 'little grey cells' triumphed over some of the most devious criminal minds ever created in crime fiction.

Christie-s last published novel, Sleeping Murder, featured her other world-famous sleuth, the shrewdly inquisitive Miss Jane Marple of St. Mary Mead.

Miss Marple appears in twelve novels, and twenty short stories; the first novel to feature her was The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930. The Poirot and Marple novels have been widely dramatized in feature films and television movies.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), And Then There Were None (1945), and Death on the Nile (1978) are a few of the successful films based on her works. Agatha Christie also wrote six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

She also wrote nonfiction: one book, Come Tell Me How you Live, describes her archaeological travels with her husband Max. The other two are collections of poems, stories, and verses, some with a religious theme.

She also wrote her autobiography which she completed in 1976. Although synonymous with crime fiction, the breadth of themes in her novels is quite extraordinary and she deserves her place as one of the best-loved writers of all time (less)

Seven cases in which Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple prove conclusively that their powers of detection take the cake- About The Author Agatha Christie is the bestselling author of all time. She has sold over two billion books worldwide and has been translated into over 45 languages.

In a writing career that spanned more than half a century, Agatha Christie wrote eighty novels and short story collections. She also wrote over a dozen plays, including The Mousetrap, which is now the longest running play in theatrical history.

Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was the first to feature her eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. One of the most famous fictional creations of all time, Poirot's 'little grey cells' triumphed over some of the most devious criminal minds ever created in crime fiction.

Christie-s last published novel, Sleeping Murder, featured her other world-famous sleuth, the shrewdly inquisitive Miss Jane Marple of St. Mary Mead.

Miss Marple appears in twelve novels, and twenty short stories; the first novel to feature her was The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930. The Poirot and Marple novels have been widely dramatized in feature films and television movies.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), And Then There Were None (1945), and Death on the Nile (1978) are a few of the successful films based on her works. Agatha Christie also wrote six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

She also wrote nonfiction: one book, Come Tell Me How you Live, describes her archaeological travels with her husband Max. The other two are collections of poems, stories, and verses, some with a religious theme.

She also wrote her autobiography which she completed in 1976. Although synonymous with crime fiction, the breadth of themes in her novels is quite extraordinary and she deserves her place as one of the best-loved writers of all time (less)

--Seymour Cain, Religious Studies Review (less)

D. and R.

D. Burman, who provided the memorable music for his films, with his compatriots Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, to both of whom he was very close, and with his heroines, from Geeta Bali, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Nutan, Vyjayanthimala, Mumtaz and Hema Malini to Waheeda Rehman, Zeenat Aman and Tina Munim, all of whom he launched.

Dev Anand has produced an unputdownable book chock-full of bittersweet reminiscences, written in a pacy, effervescent style that carries the reader through sixty of Bollywood's most interesting years. With rare pictures from his personal archive, Romancing with Life is the quintessential Dev Anand (less)

His idiosyncratic style and infectious humour has endeared him to millions, transcending his sport. As the most respected umpire in the game, Dickie has serious and constructive points to make about modern cricket.

He has fearlessly berated fast-bowlers when necessary. He has some sharp comments to make about ball tampering and he has mixed feelings about the introduction of the third umpire.

Dickie wanted to go out at the top and he has certainly done so - after standing at 66 Test matches, three World Cup finals and 92 one-day Internationals. Combining forthright views on the game and those involved in it, compelling accounts of what it is like behind the scenes in cricket at the highest level, and the hilarious stories for which Dickie is so well known, here is the refreshing and enjoyable autobiography of a sporting legend (less)

Through this narrative, written with extraordinary eloquence and honesty, and illuminated with vibrant descriptions of Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders of the national movement, emerges the portrait of the author himself - a complex and introspective personality with a brilliant and questing mind, a deep love of nature, an engaging zest for life and, above all, a passionate commitment to democracy and secularism. jawaharlal nehru.

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Through this narrative, written with extraordinary eloquence and honesty, and illuminated with vibrant descriptions of Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders of the national movement, emerges the portrait of the author himself - a complex and introspective personality with a brilliant and questing mind, a deep love of nature, an engaging zest for life and, above all, a passionate commitment to democracy and secularism. jawaharlal nehru.

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I, Durga Khote is the account of her life and work. She entered the world of Indian films when women from respectable families were still forbidden to do so.

The era of silent movies was coming to an end, and the new talkies gave her the opportunity to showcase her talent. Catapulted into the film industry by early marriage and premature widowhood, her autobiography reveals Khote's grit in the face of tragedy, her determination to be independent, and her constant desire to learn.

Durgabai weaves together the bright and dark strands of her life with the skill of a born storyteller and in a style that is lively, crisp, direct, and often humourous. She goes beyond the narrowly personal to give first-hand glimpses of the social, political, and cultural life of the times.

Durga Khote emerges from these pages not as a Woman exploited by the world of men but as one who went out into the world and explored it with zest (less)

Figuring prominently are her early years of homelessness and struggle, her straying into law while in England with her husband Premo, and later practising in Patna, Calcutta and Delhi; and her happy marriage of over fifty years, including the experience of bringing up three remarkable children: writer Vikram, Zen Buddhist dharmacharya Shantum and film-maker Aradhana. Intertwining family life with professional, Leila movingly describes the years after her fathers premature death when as children they were obliged to live with friends.

There are also delightful vignettes: Premo and her turning an old mansion into a splendid home in Patna, Vikrams writing of the novel A Suitable Boy, Shantums ordination as a Buddhist teacher by Thich Nhat Hanh and Aradhanas marriage to Peter, an Austrian diplomat, and work as art director on films like Earth and Water. Intimate, intricate, charming and often amusing, On Balance presents a rich and heart-warming portrait of an exceptional woman, her family and her times (less)